SKOKIE, Ill., Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Once every four years, the world gets an extra day. And the last thing people want to do is spend it cleaning. But according to a new national survey from CLR Cleaners (www.clrbrands.com), we could use that extra “Leap Day” – and then some – to help catch up on our cleaning.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120228/CG61069)

On average, American adults spend 13 hours per week cleaning. And there’s quite a disparity when it comes to the difference between men and women. Women spend 15.6 hours a week cleaning, while men only spend 10.2 hours. That’s a difference of more than SEVEN 40-hour work weeks, each year!

Despite the heavy workload around the house, the survey revealed that even with an “extra” day in a Leap Year, neither men nor women want to use that extra time to clean the house. This is why CLR wants to make cleaning easier, so that you can transform “chore time” into “your time” and get back to spending your time in a way you enjoy.

“Everyone wants a clean home, but nobody wants to spend hours and hours on this thankless task,” said Jelmar president Alison Gutte…………… continues on Sacramento Bee

Monica Vila is co-founder of TheOnlineMom.com, an organization that provides technology education to families and helps moms connect with brands they can trust.

Recently, many people chimed in about the “Laptop Shooting Dad‘s” reaction to his 15-year-old daughter’s Facebook posts. Not only is the subject of social media parenting popular, but his stunt has surpassed 30 million views on YouTube.

While it’s evident that we live in a country of extremes — parents who use guns to make a point vs. parents that find this version of parenting horrific — the bottom line is that we all struggle to find the right balance when helping our kids through their tumultuous teen years.

During a recent #theonlinemom Twitter chat, nearly 400 parents weighed in with what they believed to be fitting alternatives to shooting nine bullets through a laptop. For instance:

ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s been a pretty lonely weekend for Dwight Howard. The Magic center has slumped around All-Star Weekend almost unnoticed — no autographs, no fanfare, no media following him around. Word is the poor guy spent his Friday night curled up in his Central Florida mansion reading “Hunger Games.”

OK, not really. It’s actually been the complete opposite.

As an Orlando star and leading vote-getter, Howard is the unofficial host of this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend. He’s barely slept, hosted a party every night (even two on Friday!), made numerous appearances at local shoe stores and charity events and constantly been swarmed by media.

That attention peaked at the weekend’s first official media availability session. All 12 Eastern Conference players sat at desks in a large conference room at a Hilton in Orlando, with the media free to visit any player they desired.

Most desired Howard, though — and it wasn’t close.

Carmelo Anthony, whose booth stood a few feet to Howard’s right, gazed over the mass and laughed. “Your turn,” he said.

More than 60 reporters formed a thick “C” around Howard, filling out to five or six reporters deep. There were 15 voice recorders sitting on the table in front of Howard, 11 TV camer…………… continues on ESPN

While it is impossible to argue that carpets provide more surface area to collect household particulates, it is actually this quality that allows it to act like a filter. Using gravity to collect allergens from the air, carpets naturally trap them in their fibers.

The most important aspect of any filter, however, is keeping it clean, continually removing particulates from its fibers to make room for more debris to be collected. Here are some basic tips on how to effectively accomplish this task, avoiding the alternative of removing carpet from your home:

Vacuum Frequency and Technique

Vacuuming is the obvious first line of defense against the accumulation of allergens in your carpet. It should be done on average twice a week for moderately used rooms, and three for high traffic areas, to keep dirt…………… continues on Seattle Post Intelligencer

“At our house the arrival of spring is right up at the top in terms of things we look forward to every year,” says Cindy Dunston Quirk, owner and developer of Scout & Zoe’s. “Scout and Zoe can’t wait to shake off the winter blues, get out of the house and start enjoying the warmer weather. But like any other transition during the year, it’s a good idea to make sure they’re ready!”

Here’s a quick checklist from the experts to consider before warmer weather arrives:

Ensure that flea and tick protection is up to date. Whatever preventatives you choose, it’s important to get a head start as tempera…………… continues on Tips for a Dog Friendly, Healthy Springtime – San Antonio Express

MANILA, Philippines — Dog grooming used to serve a more functional purpose mainly for hunting in the old days, but dog maintenance has evolved with the times.

“I think the demand is pretty big not only because of the show exhibitions, but also because the number of households that own dogs is increasing. Of course, a lot of them would want their dogs groomed properly,” Albert Dichaves, a director of the Philippine Canine Club Inc., said.

Dichaves, who trained in Australia, said grooming can make their dogs not only look good but also feel their best. “The groomer should know everything about the breed; how it should be groomed, and how the dog should look after being groomed, and how the coat should perform specifically in the show ring,” he said.

For common dog owners, here are some tips that can be done at home:

1. Hair care. Long and medium-haired dogs require high-maintenance to keep their hair mat and tick-free. Short-haired dogs need less attention in terms of mat prevention and removal. But regardless of hair length, dogs must be given a bath once a week to help dogs shed hair properly and for their general health.

2. Nail care. Don’t cut your dog’s nails too short; they can get hurt and develop a strong disliking to nail trimming, making it a challenging task in the future. You should cut your dog’s nails when they are alread…………… continues on ABS CBN News

Pliss paired the Simi Valley women through Rent-A-Grandma, a Los Angeles-based employment agency he founded in 2010. The agency places older women with families in need of everything from child care to domestic help to cooking to pet-sitting.

After he launched Rent-A-Grandma, put up a basic website and passed out a few business cards, he heard from Fox News.

“They did a segment on us and the phone started ringing,” Pliss said. “We got slammed. We got calls from all over the U.S.”

He also got about 600 requests from people wanting to open franchises. A Rent-A-Grandma is opening soon in Virginia, two have opened in Texas this year and Pliss is considering franchises in Florida. His business has been featured in national media outlets such as AARP magazine, ABC News, Fox Business News, Huffington Post, Business News Daily, CNBC and National Public Radio, to name a few.

This month, Pliss met with a producer for some of Oprah Winfrey’s programs about the possibility of a reality show involving Rent-A-Grandma, he said.

“They seemed pretty serious,” Pliss said. “We’ll see.”

Walta, 48, was laid off from her job in 2005, and separated from her husband. She needed a job, so in 2011, she answered an ad on Craigslist, where Pli…………… continues on Ventura County Star

When you first hear about it, Kathy Dunham’s long-term goal for the animal shelter seems a bit, well, unusual.

“What I’d really like to see is for us to be put out of business,” said Dunham, president of the Friends for Life Animal Rescue group in Gilbert.

Check out dogs, cats at Friends for Life

She knows, of course, that won’t be any time soon. Last year alone, the no-kill shelter found homes for 175 cats and 248 dogs. And, as long as there are dogs and cats that are injured or abandoned or both, the shelter will need each and every one of its 350 volunteers.

“We want to be able to rescue animals and see them through their entire life,” said Kelly Mixer, public-relations director. “We want to help them get the care they need and get healthy and get with the proper family.”

All the animals are spayed or neutered but only after a seven-day hold to see if anyone claims them. Every animal also receives a microchip. That way, Mixer said,…………… continues on AZ Central.com

Fresh cactus paddles — maybe you’ve seen them in the produce aisle. While still not common in many supermarkets, the paddles are easily found in Latin markets, where they’re known as nopales. The paddles may be prepared in a variety of ways (grilled, pickled, sauteed, etc.) and are added to a host of dishes from soups and stews, to salads — even tacos.

And while the paddles are often cleaned of needles before they’re sold, it’s not unusual to find a batch of prickly paddles at the market, with only a pair of tongs provided to protect your hands as you pick and choose what to take home.

Removing the needles and cleaning cactus takes care, but it’s not that difficult. Follow the jump for a quick step-by-step on cleaning and preparing the paddles to use in the kitchen.

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you’d like me to explore, leave a comment below or shoot me an email at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

I tried to follow the helpful tips I read recently on how to better organize my life. There were these simple tips on cleaning and saving time and advice on how to do everyday tasks in a more sensible fashion.

One tip was, when loading your dishwasher (something I acquired only in the latter years of married life), you should group all your spoons in one slot, knives in another, forks in yet another slot of the machine. This was supposed to help you save time when putting the clean items away.

But wait, in the very next article I read, the self-help guru said you should scatter your silverware in different slots so that the spoons don’t rest against one another. The same for the forks and knives. Humm. That made more sense to me because when the spoons stack up against one another, they don’t get clean in the dishwasher. The heck with saving time. At least they would be clean.

I’m not really talking about cleaning or organizing my predictable life these days. What I really want to talk about is sorting out truth from fiction, or better yet, truth from rumor.

In recent weeks, we have all read or heard stories or, in some cases inuendo, about people and events making the news. In one day, I heard a story repeated to me several times and each time I heard it, the story got bigger and more blown out of whack, so much so that I cou…………… continues on Wheeling Intelligencer

Published: Friday, February 24, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 6:27 p.m.

The second annual Rehoboth Women’s Conference, “Increasing Our Territory,” is scheduled for March 13-15 at Shekinah Glory Christian Fellowship Church, 10164 N. Line St., St. James. The conference’s guest speakers are Melanie Pichon-Smith of New Orleans, Dr. Yvonne Capehart of Pensacola, Fla., Taketa Williams of Jacksonville, Fla., and host of BET’s “Sunday Best,” Tiffany Carlin-Laird. Admission is free, but there is a registration fee of $ 30.

The annual spring festival is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 31 and April 1 at Dularge Community Baptist Church, 549 Andrew St., Houma. For information, call 346-1689.

A $ 10,000 raffle fundraiser is scheduled for April 14 at Maria Immacolata Catholic Church. In addition to the $ 10,000 grand prize, there will also be a raffle drawing to win $ 100 each Sunday through April 8. Tickets cost $ 100 each and can be purchased at the church office, 246 Corporate Drive, Houma. The proceeds will be used to reduce the church’s debt.

The drawing for the Genevieve Foundation’s Dream Home is Aug. 18. The three-bedroom, 2-1/2-bath home being raffled is located in Acadia Plantation subdivision, 128 Rue Celeste, Thibodaux. The Rev. Dean Danos, pastor of St. Genevieve Catholic Church, said the benefit is…………… continues on Daily Comet

Now we turn our attention to Frank L. VanderSloot, the billionaire businessman whose privately-held company, Idaho Falls-based Melaleuca, is one of the biggest donors to the super PAC backing Mitt Romney (Restore Our Future). He’s also national finance co-chair of the former Massachusetts governor’s campaign (somehow avoiding the legal barriers that are intended to keep super PACs separate from candidates’ campaigns).

Writing about VanderSloot is a riskier endeavor than covering Adelson or Friess: As Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com has explained, VanderSloot is in the habit of threatening to sue jus…………… continues on DailyFinance

Come clean with desires for modern laundry roomNews from Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Posted: Feb. 23, 2012 | 2:03 a.m.

For most of us, the laundry room is probably the least interesting and least glamorous room in our home. Traditionally, little, if any, thought has been given to its design or appearance. Just put in a washer and dryer and maybe some shelves and call it a day. That has been the attitude. And now that is changing.

Generally viewed (and rightly so) as a utilitarian space and often hidden away from the rest of the house, sometimes even in the garage, laundry rooms are being seen in a fresh, new light by architects, homeowners and designers alike, who are now giving actual laundry room design more than just a second look. A likely reason for this new-found interest is because of the fact that today’s homeowners are focused on the areas of their home where small changes can make big differences so the importance of laundry room features is now high on that list.

As with kitchen and bath design, much thought is now being given to the function, efficiency, lighting and storage when it comes to this space. In a word, believe it or not, one of the latest trends in home design is the creation of customized laundry rooms. When designing one of your own there are a number of key points to keep in mind.